


$2.95 for Protection

by mediocrethot



Category: League of Legends
Genre: Angst, F/M, Non-Canon Lore, Wowoowwo so much angst, ekko is a small boi, hes lowkey so edgy, how do i write lines for yasuo, i mean how do these two even meet, idk anymore, if you couldnt tell from the MAJOR CHARACTER DEATH tag, ionia is so far from zaun
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-01-12
Updated: 2018-01-17
Packaged: 2019-03-03 21:02:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 3
Words: 1,385
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13349460
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mediocrethot/pseuds/mediocrethot
Summary: Janna, guardian of Zaun, begins to guard someone who's an ocean away.Yasuo, the Unforgiven, learns of trust and anchors.





	1. For Tranquility

For years she had been flying, soaring, gliding over the lush abundance of Ionia, quietly scanning lives, stories, history. No detail passed by her piercing blue eyes. Every half second in and out dart of a squirrel nestled in a tree trunk, every morsel of bread passed between family members long forgotten before such a reunion, every shift in the air, and especially every whirlwind released that surpassed her own in power and force never escaped her senses.

He was a ronin, lost in spirit, purpose, beginnings, ever so slightly guided by the wind, the only thing he remotely trusted. Of course, she was there to follow his steps in a form of a blue bird, chirping and singing songs originating from the toxic slums of Zaun, accompanying a wanderer wandering on a path he was not destined for, on a path blown through the clouds in the heavens.

She was redemption. She was hope. She was Janna, guardian of Zaun, guardian of Yasuo, defying fate for hope he would redeem his darkened soul.

She would bring the winds of change.


	2. Who are You in the Dark?

Janna had known of him since the winds predicted the birth of a great power many waning moons long ago, blessed with eternal inner strength and natural skill. It was no surprise when Yasuo had mastered wind techniques that were difficult for even Janna to perform herself, techniques that had not been perfected so beautifully since she had awakened and guided a forgotten generation. He would have been one to achieve the pinnacle of servitude and power as a samurai had it not been for the arrogance of a foolish king, the pedestal on which his immaturity and pride had placed himself on.

Now, Yasuo was tending a small campfire, the flicker of yellow warming patchy spots on his grimy blade and his ceaselessly open flask of liquor. Janna perched on a tree, occasionally rustling her feathers to stir noise, to keep Yasuo alert, even if he never let his guard down. When the last bits of dried meat were washed down with a solid swig of ale, the lavender grace of twilight had eased into the black mystery of night. The fire had been stomped out rather crudely, only the sparkle of stars left to illuminate Yasuo’s meditation.

The wind swirled ominously with magic before enemies materialized, a circle of bodies trapping Yasuo in a seemingly inescapable prison. Janna looked on pointedly- Yasuo was no stranger to such attempts, and he was still alive. Besides, she had little power here. The wind here was not hers.

Yasuo held his pose, generating an immense amount of concetration before his sword flashed into his hand and he unleashed his first and last whirlwind. It was dance, an arc of light, a swift leap and twirl, a weightless dash and rotation. The bodies fell like delicate satin crimson leaves in the waning fall. In the blackness of the night, in the dark of the shadows, it was almost as if they were leaves-silhouettes were faint, weaving seamlessly into a void of nothingness, as if they never existed in the first place. Yasuo cursed under his breath; there was no telling how many stupid ninjas there were. It would be as much an annoyance of eliminating them all as getting the blood off his clothes.

He grumbled and plopped down on the ground. He wasn’t about to seek them out and get ambushed. No, he wasn’t that dumb. They were just going to have to approach him instead of hiding behind the trees like cowards. Janna took this time to rustle her wings and fly a little, right under canopies to detect where the attackers were. Those who were inexperienced would lose their focus and change their posture ever so slightly to search out the source of sound. It worked, and Janna could feel the shifts in the air. Using her little power, she knocked the ninjas out of their posts with small bursts of tailwind, onto the ground with a loud thud, and into where Yasuo could see them.

It took two seconds for those leaves to crumple and get crushed under Yasuo’s feet. One by one, as ninja by ninja was vanquished, the rest retreated, knowing they could not defeat the ronin alone. By then, Janna was completely exhausted. This wind was not hers, and using her powers drained her much more quickly than in Zaun. She was a tired, tiny bird who needed to return home but did not have the strength to.

Exhausted, she approached Yasuo’s camp, hopping slowly to the ashes of the fire, surrounded by dead leaves. As Yasuo regained his meditation posture, Janna fell asleep, knowing she had done her best.


	3. Upon the Wind

The leathery texture of gritty, dirt-covered callouses on a hand that somehow caressed and skimmed her feathers so delicately was what woke Janna up, a soft touch that left her puzzled as to where she was. Eons had passed like breezes from the last time she was treated so gently. She hopped up with a startle, a sudden cheep bringing Yasuo's attention to her. His eyes glowed a dark amber in the light of the rising sun, but Janna flapped her wings as fast as she could before she could stare back, before she fell into a trance, mesmerized. She flew backwards, panicked, for how she could have let herself abandon her duty for so long and so close to him? But she couldn’t catch the wind in her frenzy, losing height and stamina by the millisecond, and Yasuo caught her just before she collided with the ground.

"Careful, little one," he muttered, smoothing her wings with a single brush of his large hands, in an attempt to ease her anxiety. This time, Janna was caught in his gaze, staring into the aloofness that contrasted such an earthy color. She shook off the captivating allure, knowing she should stay as his guardian, not companion. This interaction would be forgotten in due time, and Yasuo would remain alone, safe in his lack of knowledge.

Janna, steadied and determined, took off without missing a beat, circling over his head twice before making her long journey towards home. Her wings glided and soared as the familiar routine kicked in, her body auto-piloting as her mind wandered through the endless blue of sea and sky, through the pauses of wind and periods of wispy cotton candy clouds grazing her wings. The ships of the blessed and guided empowered her, the prayers and whispers carrying her over into her homeland. All the while, Janna thought of Yasuo, the tenderness of his hands that she had never seen in the warrior ever since he was accused. On the days and nights when the winds were especially calm, on the days and nights she shirked her normal duties to take place of her elemental, she had never seen anything but blood and a merciless sword.

Her sigh was a strong breeze through Zaun powerful enough to blow away the heavy smog and clear the skies for the sun to pour bright light into the gray. Her wings shimmered and the tips caught gold, and such was a breathtaking sight as her people were enveloped from the warmth above. Janna caught murmurs of thanks as she brushed past them, gaining gasps of surprise as well with each passing body.

Her resolve would not weaken, her will not yet broken. Her thoughts dissipated in the midst of her weaving through the air, her body dissolving and materializing with a shift in the wind, a cool spot in the air, a lightness and joy in the prayer of a citizen. She was a woman now, morphing into a little bird, into the facets of air, and back so quickly a normal human would have gotten whiplash. Her flight took her high up, past the Bridgewaltz, through the cliffs, and over the dazzling gleam of Piltover. The view, she was no stranger to, but nevertheless, just as beautiful as the last as she scanned the land and mountains just before Noxus. If the sky was clear of clouds, she would have been able to fly up a little higher and see Noxus to the west, Demacia on the east, and Mount Targon straight ahead.

The world was a small place.

 


End file.
